HACKENSACK, N.J. – Rainey Cox's three-pointer to tie at the buzzer did not fall and Fairleigh Dickinson dropped its non-conference finale, 71-68, to visiting Howard on Thursday afternoon.

A Madelynn Comly jumper got the Knights within three, 71-68, with ten seconds to play. Tajzhane Dopson was then fouled with seven seconds left and missed both free throws to give Fairleigh Dickinson (2-9) a chance to tie.

Kiana Brown got a pass from Cox, who controlled the rebound off the missed free throw and got to the Howard (3-8) free throw before finding Cox behind the play for the three-point attempt from a foot right of straight-away.

The Bison used a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to turn a 64-61 deficit into a 68-64 lead with 1:24 to play in the game. Te'Shya Heslip scored four of her 11 points in the run. Howard was led by Imani Bryant, who scored 19 points, before fouling off, and added nine rebounds and six blocks.

Fairleigh Dickinson cut the Howard lead to a point – 55-54 – heading into the fourth quarter after scoring 12 of the final 18 points of the third quarter. Howard opened the third quarter on a 13-3 run to take a 49-42 lead.

The Knights had four players in double figures -- a first this season. Brown and Brianna Thomas led the way with 12 each. Courtney Blankenship had 11 points and Peniel M'Bikata had 10 – five coming from the free throw line. Comly had nine points, three rebounds and six steals – season-high by a Knight.

Peter Cinella said postgame, "I liked that the team played hard but we missed easy shots around the basket." He added, "We did do a lot of good things; steals, turnovers. We let them get to free throw line too much, though. I thought the size inside of Howard affected us at times around rim on those easy looks."

Fairleigh Dickinson was plus-seven on the offensive glass (17-10) over Howard but was still outscored 44-26 in the paint and 13-7 on second chance buckets. Howard also made 25-of-34 from the free-throw line compared to 14-of-21 for Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
The 2016 calendar ends with Fairleigh Dickinson opening up Northeast Conference play on December 29 (5:30 p.m.) against Saint Francis and December 31 (1 p.m.)  against Robert Morris. Both games are part of doubleheaders with the men at the Rothman Center.